For the connection of a drawer, in particular a drawer wall element having a drawer front, drawer front connection units are known in a wide variety of designs within the field of furniture making.
The object of the present invention is to improve a drawer front connection unit for a flexible furniture production.
The present invention is based on a drawer front connection unit for a drawer wall element of a drawer, on which drawer wall element a marginal portion of a drawer bottom is insertable in order to form a drawer side wall adjoining the drawer bottom. The drawer wall element here comprises a wall profile part and a bottom-receiving profile part, wherein on the drawer wall element is provided a support surface, present on the bottom-receiving profile, for providing underside support to a drawer bottom insertable on the drawer wall element. The wall profile part here comprises a chamber portion having an inner wall sheet portion and an outer wall sheet portion, which are spaced apart, one opposite the other, by a width dimension of the drawer wall element and are connected by a bent-over section.
The essence of the present invention lies in the fact that the drawer front connection unit is designed for fitting in the chamber portion of the drawer wall element and extends over a height dimension of the chamber portion, wherein the drawer front connection unit has front-fastening elements for fitting of a drawer front. The drawer front connection unit can advantageously be accommodated in a protected manner within the chamber portion and, at the same time, can be barely or not at all apparent. As a result of the extent over a height dimension of the chamber portion, the drawer front connection unit can be fixed in the chamber portion at fastening positions which offer the advantage of a secure and stable fitting. The drawer front connection unit can here be latched in place, for example by snap-locking, or can be fitted, for example by welding or, for example, by means of screwing or riveting or by a combination of different fastening methods—detachably or non-detachably—in the chamber portion.
The front-fastening elements are preferably configured in a lower region and in an upper region of the drawer front connection unit, whereby, in particular on drawers having a comparatively deep storage space, connecting forces between the drawer front and the drawer wall element can advantageously be distributed, preferably evenly, amongst several connecting points.
If, for different drawer fronts within an appropriate range, respectively different connection methods are necessary, a first of the front-fastening elements can be fitted detachably to the drawer front connection unit in order to be able, where necessary, to exchange the front-fastening element.
For a stable connection of a drawer front to a drawer wall element, it is advantageous if a second of the front-fastening elements is fastened in a permanent, in particular non-detachable manner, to the drawer front connection unit.
A preferred embodiment of the invention lies in the fact that a first of the front-fastening elements can be arranged with the drawer front connection unit in such a way in the chamber region that the first front-fastening element is positionable within the wall profile part such that it bears against a top edge. As a result, the first front-fastening element can be positioned comparatively remote from the, for example, second front-fastening element in order to achieve an advantageously high leverage through the connection to a drawer front.
The front-fastening elements can be connected to each other via an assembly body, which can advantageously be tailored to a shape of the chamber region.
Preferably, at least one of the two front-fastening elements is arranged in such a way on the assembly body that a flat end face of the front-fastening element can be arranged in a plane of an end face of the drawer wall element. In this case, the drawer front connection unit can advantageously reinforce the appropriate end face of the drawer wall element.
Furthermore, it is preferred that one of the front-fastening elements comprises a removable plug element, which is intended to be fastened to the front panel in order to enable a rational production. In particular, as a counterpart thereto, one of the front-fastening elements, preferably the same one, can comprise a socket, which can be fitted to the assembly body.
The socket can be provided with a tension device, with which a tensile force applied to the plugged-in plug element is adjustable for the fastening of the drawer front in order to connect a drawer front with a predefined force to the drawer wall element. In the tension device, a wedge-shaped bolt, which in particular is configured to back-grip the plug element, can be adjustably mounted in order to wedge the plug element under tensile stress in the tension device. To this end, the plug element preferably has a widened plug head.
The assembly body can be configured in the form of a flat, preferably rigid plate, whereby the drawer front connection unit, if need be, can be inserted in chamber portions of different drawer wall elements.
Preferably, to the assembly body can be fitted a filling element, with which the assembly body can be supported against a surface portion on an inner side of the wall profile part, whereby a stability of the drawer wall element can additionally be advantageously increased.
A further aspect of the present invention relates to a drawer wall element for a drawer, on which drawer wall element a marginal portion of a drawer bottom is insertable in order to form a drawer side wall adjoining the drawer bottom, wherein the drawer wall element has a wall profile part and a bottom-receiving profile part, which are respectively designed as separate and mutually coordinated components made of a sheet metal material and are connectable to each other in mutual alignment to form the drawer wall element, so that on the created drawer wall element can be provided a support surface, present on the bottom-receiving profile part, for providing underside support to a drawer bottom insertable on the drawer wall element. It is here essential that to an end-face end of the wall profile part is fitted a drawer front connection unit according to the invention, which is configured according to one or more of the embodiments described above.
The drawer front connection unit can here be arranged on the drawer wall element above the bottom-receiving profile part, wherein the drawer front connection unit and the bottom-receiving profile part can be connected to each other, in particular fixedly.
Furniture items having a drawer front connection unit according to the present invention can be able to be produced comparatively rationally, with increased load bearing capacity.